Reprisal
by slightlydazzled
Summary: Edward and Bella seemed to have the perfect life. Yet, looks can be deceiving especially when secrets are kept by all involved. AH
1. Prologue

He stared at me, as we silently ate the dinner I had painstaking made. He had continually tried to make conservation with me, but this evening I had proved unresponsive.

"The casserole tastes delicious," he tried one more time.

"Thanks," I mumbled uneasily.

"Are you feeling okay today, sweetheart?"

I fumbled with my wedding ring awkwardly. Taking a deep breath, I responded "Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

He shrugged as he took a break from eating to reply, "I don't know. You just seem a little off tonight. Did you have a fight with your mom again?"

Despite my best efforts, my emotions had shown through. However, I put my well-worn façade back into place. "No, I'm just a little tired, babe."

"Why don't you go lie down? I'll clean up here," he suggested as he gazed anxiously at me.

My eyes started to water as I hurriedly replied, "You are too good to me." My husband was so attentive and sweet. It also didn't hurt how attractive, he was. I'm quite sure that most women would jump at the opportunity to be with him and I know many had tried. Yet the fates had seen that he chose me and I was chosen for him.

He grabbed my hand, pulled me close to him, and stared into my brown eyes. Bending down, he placed his cheek next to mine. Whispering into me ear he said, "I love you, Bella."

With a now dull bang, I caressed his cheek. "I love you, too."

Yes, Edward was wonderful- a real catch. It really was a shame that he had to pay and I had to be the one to make sure it happened.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading. Italics denote flashbacks. This chapter takes place before the prologue.

_My Dad was agitated. These days, however, this was not an unusual occurrence. Granted, he was not usually this vocal about it._

_"Renee, have you seen my bag? You know... the one that I brought home last night? I can't seem to find it anywhere." Taking a deep breath, he started again, "Carlisle will kill me if I don't bring it with me today. It has all the research I've been doing for the new project."_

_Mom smiled, "Do you mean the bag that is currently resting on your shoulder?" She stifled a giggle, "You need to relax, and your presentation will be fine. I know it. You are brilliant." _

_She turned to me for reinforcement, "Bella, isn't your Daddy brilliant?"_

_I looked up from the Lucky Charms I had been devouring. Knowing that my Dad needed support, I turned on the charm that always got me a new Polly Pocket set. "My Daddy is the smartest Daddy in the whole wide world."_

_Charlie smiled. "Well, I know for a fact that I have the sweetest little girl in the universe." He kissed my head then kissed my mother before leaving out the door. _

"Miss, what would like today? Miss! Are you all right?" I was startled out of my reverie by the barista trying unsuccessfully to take my order.

Looking remorseful, I stammered, "I'm sorry, I hadn't realized that the line had moved so quickly."

The barista, whose name tag read Karen, looked at me like I had two heads, and then recovered. "No problem. What can I get for you?"

I placed my order, paid, and waited for my drink to arrive. This had been happening more frequently, ever since I decided to put my plan into action. Thinking about my dad seemed to strengthen my resolve. I could do this.

My order was called and I grabbed my coffee before leaving the café. Students were hurrying off to their classes as I headed down to the big lecture hall on campus. I took a sip of my coffee to steady my nerves and help combat the brisk cold air of fall.

'I can do this. I can do this. I can do this,' I kept repeating this mantra as the heels of my boots hit the pavement. It gave a sort of rhythm to my musings, but still my anxieties poked through my defenses. To combat this, I pulled out my iphone to look at the photo of my family.

I altered my mantra silently. 'I can do this for them.' Unsurprisingly, this new mantra gave me more power than the previous one. It was all for them after all.

Lost in my musings, I failed to notice that my feet had veered off. No longer walking in a straight line, I crashed into a stranger spilling my coffee right onto his coat and dropping my phone onto the ground.

"Fuck!" the stranger practically growled at me.

I started to apologize profusely, "I'm so, so, so sorry! I was lost in my thoughts and I didn't realize where I was going."

I decided to be brave and look at his face. I was immediately assaulted by his bright green eyes hidden behind his black framed glasses. I blanched.

For this wasn't just any stranger, this was Edward Cullen. And this certainly wasn't part of the plan.

Oh shit!


	3. Chapter 2

Well, this threw a monkey wrench into my plans.

Recovering slightly from the shock, I bent quickly to retrieve my phone shoving it into my coat pocket as quickly as possible.

He stared at me intently, seemingly deciding something important.

He spoke, "I'm sorry I yelled." He took off his very expensive looking coffee covered coat and offered me a small smile.

"No problem. You know I read once that yelling expletives can bring up your pain threshold by 50 percent" I rambled.

He smirked at me. "To be honest you didn't hurt me so much as you gave me an unexpected coffee shower." He looked at his coat emphasizing his point.

I blushed, "I am really sorry. I honestly don't make a habit of running into men and spilling my coffee all over them."

He raised his eyebrow, "I should hope not."

Looking down at his watch, he started, "Well this has been informative, but I really must be going. I'm late for a presentation I've giving."

Trying to appear confident, I stated, "I know. I was actually on my way to see you."

"Are you physics major?" he asked with interest.

"Shall we talk on the way? We are going to the same place." Knowing his time was valuable, I started walking to the auditorium and he followed.

I turned to look at him. "I know I look young, but I am actually working on my masters in French literature."

"I hate to be blunt or rude but why would you want to go a lecture given by a nuclear physicist?" he said giving me a glance.

I fiddled with my button apprehensively on my pea coat and replied, "I'm actually really fascinated by your work, I'm just more interested in Rabelais right at the moment. Although I do quite enjoy the writings of Pascal and he juggled the two impressively wouldn't you agree?"

My answer seemed to impress him and that made me happier than it should have.

"Then I am honored that you would want to spend your time at my lackluster lecture."

"You sell yourself short; this isn't actually my first lecture I've attended that you've given. If I thought you uninteresting, I assure you that I wouldn't have decided to come to another one."

He opened the door of the lecture hall and gestured for me to go in first. I looked over the immense auditorium and searched for a seat.

I turned my head back, smiled and said, "It looks like you are very popular." I motioned to the almost filled to capacity room. "Good luck, Dr. Cullen."

He quickly replied, "Edward. It's Edward to anyone who has ever spilled coffee all over my coat and studies French literature. Besides, I feel too old when anyone calls me Dr. Cullen, it seems like they are referring to my father."

I internally cringed at the mentioning of his father. Instead of dwelling on the pain, I replied, "Well then you better call me Bella."

"All right, Bella."

He should know the name of the woman who was about to publically humiliate him.


	4. Chapter 3

I was a chicken, a cowardly yellow-bellied chicken. It was the only logical explanation to describe what I had done or not done. After leaving Edward to find a seat, I luckily had found one near the front. Sitting there, I ruminated on my plan. During Edward's lecture, I would hijack the presentation with a little help from Jake the technology guru who would leave no trace of evidence of my involvement. Jake would look for my signal for me to give him the file and then the Cullen name and Cullen Industries would finally be exposed for all their dirty dealings.

The only problem was I hadn't counted on the misfortune of finding a seat next to Alice Cullen and two children

Setting my bag down on the floor, I sat down in the seat. Alice Cullen then decided to start her assault.

"So, you were pretty flirtatious with by brother over there. I'm Alice Cullen and if my brother isn't going to introduce his new girlfriend to me, then I'm going to have to do it myself. Oh and this is Ethan and this little lady here is Abby." She gestured to the sleeping baby cradled in a fabric sling on her body and a little girl who ignored us and kept coloring in a picture.

'Who brings two little kids to a lecture on the field of Nuclear Physics?' This thought prevented me from replying for a second, before I recovered.

"Umm . . . I'm actually just here to listen to the lecture. I only just met Edward, I mean Dr. Cullen, on the way here because I'm terribly uncoordinated and spilled my coffee all over his coat." I paused before adding, "I highly doubt that that makes me his girlfriend. Although I once knew a guy who gave me a ride home from work after my car broke down and told everyone that I was his girlfriend for the next two months. " That guy was a piece of work.

She smiled and laughed before proceeding, "Well shoot! I guess that doesn't make you his girlfriend, but that doesn't mean you won't be." Her eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief as she looked me over. "My brother needs to settle down and have a family. I've been telling him this for years. He is always so wrapped up in his work that he hardly ever dates. Yet my father was able to juggle the two just fine."

I set my jaw and tried to keep my face politely neutral as I listened.

She ran her fingers in her daughter's golden hair and patted the back of her baby. "I shouldn't be telling you all this. I have this problem where I overshare and my mouth just starts to vomit words all over people. I was at the bank the other day and I talked with the teller for about a half-hour before she asked me to leave. I really am trying to work on it. I'm sorry; it's just nice to talk to grown-ups sometimes."

"It's fine." My eyes drifted from her children to the podium, my eyebrows scrunched up with wonder at their attendance.

Alice read my look. "I know what you're thinking. I promise you that I'm not crazy. Abby just loves her Uncle Eddie so much and wanted to see him at his work. Edward was talking about the lecture at our weekly family dinner and Abby demanded to come. She talk about what she was going to wear all of yesterday, before settling on her favorite yellow polka dot dress. I just know she'll be bored in about five minutes of this presentation and we can go."

"I won't get bored Momma", an angelic little voice called from beside Alice. "Uncle Eddie isn't boring. He's my friend."

"I didn't say he was boring, baby. It's just Uncle Eddie is going to be talking about really complex things that even I don't understand fully. Plus, remember you promised that you wouldn't get upset if we have to leave if your brother wakes up."

She huffed out a big gust of air that made her bangs move before replying sullenly, "I know."

I smiled at Abby and Alice turned to me and said, "It is nice to get out of the house, I really don't know how much more of My Little Ponies I can take. Hey, you never did tell me your name."

"Oh, I guess I didn't. It's Bella Swan."

"Nice to meet you. We should really", she was interrupted before being able to finish her thought by the start of the presentation.

A booming voice started, "Hello everyone and welcome to the University of Washington's special series of lectures given by Dr. Edward Cullen. I'm Dr. Jones from our Physics department here on campus. It really is an honor to welcome such a distinguished guest. Dr. Cullen received his undergrad here in Physics and Chemistry before completing his graduate level work and receiving his PH.D at Harvard in Nuclear Physics. He is a leading researcher in this field and continues expounding on the Nobel Prize winning work done by his father Dr. Carlisle Cullen. He is now working at Cullen Industries with his father Dr. Cullen. Not only are his efforts in his field groundbreaking and innovative, Dr. Cullen dedicates time and money to many philanthropic efforts throughout the community. Please give a big hand for Dr. Edward Cullen."

Abby looked up and was enraptured by the appearance of her uncle at the front of the stage shaking the hand of Dr. Jones. She stood up and cheered, jumping up and down, shouting, "Uncle Eddie! Uncle Eddie!"

I really tried to resist smiling at the scene in front of me but my heart warmed at the little girl cheering wildly, especially when Edward winked at her. When he scanned the row looking from Abby to Alice, he seemed slightly shocked to see me beside them. However he then did something completely unexpected. He winked at me. I wasn't quite sure that it was intended for me, so I turned around and looked for someone, anyone that it could have been meant for besides me. Whirling around, he gave me a smile and direct smoldering eye contact that left no doubt that it was meant for me. I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat.

My cheeks flushed bright red, while Alice gave me sideways look. She whispered, "Just spilling coffee, huh?"

This only made me more embarrassed. Wait, he was the one who was supposed to be mortified today, not me. Why was this guy flirting with me anyway? Did he enjoy girls ruining his fancy clothes?

I breathed deeply trying to calm my frazzled nerves. I could do this. So what if the guy was flirting with me? Who cares that he had a friendly and over-enthusiastic sister, an adorable baby nephew, and a precious and sweet little niece? It would not move me, not even a little bit. Nor would his obvious interest in me get him anywhere. This guy and his whole family deserved whatever they got. Collateral damage just had to happen sometimes.

Edward cleared his throat before beginning, "Thank you so much for the warm welcome. It really is surprising to me when there is such a large turnout to hear me speak. Today is really special for me because my sister, Alice, is here and she brought two special guests my nephew, Ethan, and my niece, Abby. You might have heard her screaming 'Uncle Eddie', by the way she is the only one allowed to call me Eddie. Thank you my special girl for coming to see me!"

The auditorium erupted with "Awws!" Even the science geeks were working against me today.

He started his spiel and continued to make eye contact with me and smile at his niece. Meanwhile, I continued to give myself pep talks. There was media here. When would there be another time? It was his final lecture with the University. No, it had to be now. It just had to be.

After a half hour of his lecture, it was approaching the time when I needed to make the prearranged signal to Jake to give him the final. We had never met before in person, all of our business had been conducted through the phone. He told me it wasn't safe to email him the file, but to hand it off in person. I was to pretend to take a phone call exiting and then handing off the file to Jake before re-entering to see the fireworks.

I was shocked that Alice was still here and more so that Abby was still so enthralled with her Uncle Eddie. This kid could win an Olympic gold medal for her attention span.

It was time, I had to do it now if Jake was going to help me. I started to grab for my phone, when I noticed Abby had moved to sit in front of me. She was coloring a picture of what appeared to be her and Edward. As I was examining it, she looked at me with her crystal blue eyes and smiled at me. My heart broke and tears filled my eyes as I give a tight smile back at her.

My heart thumped wildly, but I knew I couldn't do it. I couldn't destroy the image she had of her Uncle. Not right in front of her. Not like this.

It would be too horrible. How could anyone destroy a child's sweet innocence like that?

I just wished Carlisle Cullen had given me the same consideration when I was that little girl.

Edward once again made eye contact with me and gave me a winning smile. It was time for plan B.


End file.
